Keith Anderson, ScottishPower CEO, said:

“The current crisis has exposed real weaknesses in how the energy retail industry is regulated. Irresponsible and reckless behaviours have gone unpunished and now customers are being told to bear the costs. And as I said last week, things are becoming desperate even for some well-run companies in our sector. Many more will go bust in the next few weeks.

“I am pleased that Ofgem has begun to listen to the industry and to respond. As a set of short term fixes, Ofgem’s proposals make sense. 

“But we also need to think about the bigger picture. We need urgently to address the structural failures in the retail market - reforming the price cap so that it can respond more quickly to price shocks in the wholesale energy markets as well as focusing it on the most vulnerable customers, who will need our help the most.”